At this point you really can’t knock the hustle of enigmatic alternative metal/rock icon Maynard James Keenan. Drawing upon his decades of experience in martial arts, the musician/entrepreneur is now set to launch a new video that finds him hosting an introduction to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu titled ‘The Great In Between: An Introduction To Jiu Jitsu‘.
That 90-minute documentary was filmed in February of 2023 as Keenan led a series of seminars on the aforementioned popular martial art form. That film was directed by Chris Staab and was shot at the Verde Valley Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy in Cottonwood, AZ — a facility which Keenan co-founded. After decades of training, Keenan himself now holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, having earned that title this past January.
While much has been said about Keenan‘s musical pursuits in Tool, A Perfect Circle & Puscifer, not too mention his numerous business ventures, his passion and admiration for martial arts has been a bit less publicized. It’s clearly been an interest of his for numerous years however, as seen back in 1997 when he forcibly restrained a fan who rushed the stage with a rear naked choke during a Tool show.
This new film pursuit of Keenan‘s will debut on December 13th via puscifertv.com. In addition to knowledge and insight being served up by Keenan, several other black belts have also took part. Speaking of this venture, Keenan offered, “You can do this. We’ve got your back. Not literally. But we can also teach you how to get us off your back. See what I did there?”
Commenting further in the below trailer for the film, Keenan stated, “You’ve heard the cliché, those who can’t do, teach? Well that’s me. I’m not great at jiu-jitsu, but I understand jiu-jitsu, and I understand how to teach jiu-jitsu.”
Puscifer also provided the music for this new film. If it looks to be up your alley, a Cyber Monday pre-order sale is currently underway via puscifertv.com for today (December 02nd) only, using the code ‘VVBJJ24’.
However, if martial arts and combat sports aren’t your bag, there’s no shortage of other upcoming Keenan-related irons in the fire. In addition to seemingly looking into printing his own charcoal sketches, there are also rumblings of him planning forays into launching his own separate brands of gin and chocolate. If that’s not enough, last week saw the release of a Puscifer concert poster book.
